NJPW ‘World Tag League 2018’ (12.3.18) Results & Review

NJPW ‘World Tag League 2018’ (12.3.18) Results & Review

Night thirteen of the 2018 World Tag League was a return of the no commentary, hard camera setup. Only the tournament matches were uploaded but all fourteen teams were featured. After tonight, only three more nights remain which leaves three matches and six more point up for grabs. Let’s see who still has a chance. Let’s get started!

World Tag League Tournament Match
Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka (4-5) def. Shota Umino & Ayato Yoshida (0-9) @ 9:05 via Suzuki Gotch-Style Piledriver on Umino – *3/4
The young lions got the jump on Suzuki-Gun before the bell but an Iizuka chair shot lead to a brawl on the outside. By the time the match got back in the ring, Suzuki-Gun had control. Umino had a few highlights, including a brainbuster on Iizuka and pie-facing Suzuki. Great fire from Umino, as usual, but Yoshida continues to struggle looking convincing. The crowd was great and loved everything from all parties.

World Tag League Tournament Match
Guerrillas of Destiny (7-2) def. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi (1-8) @ 9:27 via Tama Gun Stun on Nakanishi – *1/2
Bless workboots Nakanishi. Coming hot off the top and once again giving the high spot of his match. There wasn’t much else here to be excited about but as long as the monster flies, I’ll keep my complaining to a minimum.

World Tag League Tournament Match
Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi (3-6) def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (3-6) @ 10:03 via Page Rite of Passage on Kojima – **1/2
Strong finishing sequence brought me back to life after the first portion of the show. Page missed a moonsault, Yujiro cut off a Tenzan moonsault, Kojima ducked the Buckshot lariat, looked for a suplex but Page flipped through and put him away with the Rite of Passage. Good stuff in the closing minutes and a solid match all around.

World Tag League Tournament Match
Killer Elite Squad (6-3) def. Juice Robinson & David Finlay (6-3) @ 8:26 via Killer Bomb on Finlay – **1/2
Archer had his workboots on and had no problem making FinJuice look great. Fast-paced, nice and easy action. FinJuice had a lot of fire, took inspiration from the legends with their low dropkicks to get K.E.S. down but it wasn’t enough to keep them down. The nice, brisk pace kept the match alive and fun.

World Tag League Tournament Match
Jeff Cobb & Michael Elgin (5-4) def. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi (5-4) @ 12:04 via Cobb Tour of the Islands on Taichi – ***1/4
Chalk this up to another great match for these two teams. Both have been tournament standouts, Sabre and Taichi being the bigger surprise. Taichi’s focus was on taking out Cobb’s knee and isolating Elgin. There was a really strong back and forth between Elgin and Sabre, both have great chemistry. Elgin pulled Taichi out of a Gedo Clutch, gave him a buckle bomb but Sabre cut off the Elgin Bomb into a triangle choke, leaving the match between Cobb and Taichi. TAKA helped distract the referee for Taichi shenanigans but Cobb caught him and give Taichi the Tour of the Islands for the win. Strong performances from both teams.

World Tag League Tournament Match
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano (7-2) def. Togi Makabe & Toa Henare (4-5) @ 9:33 via Ishii Brainbuster on Henare – **3/4
Henare looked to step up to Ishii and Ishii made him look like a million bucks throughout. These two battled for the majority of the match and it took a Yano leg sweep and pull the match into Ishii’s favor. Makabe came in with a double lariat to give Henare the advantage again. An Ishii headbutt didn’t phase Henare, who immediately put Ishii down with one of his own. Ultimately, Ishii as able to escape the Toa Bottom and drop Henare with the Brainbuster. Henare never looked out of place standing alongside Ishii.

World Tag League Tournament Match
EVIL & SANADA (7-2) def. Beretta & Chuckie T. (5-4) @ 12:37 via SANADA Skull End on Chuckie – ***
Workboots match. Best Friends spent the majority grinding on SANADA which lead to fiery comebacks that the crowd were all about. He was the star the whole way through. Overcoming the double teams and saving EVIL. The crowd was with this match start to finish and reacted to everything. Good match to end out the tournament section of the night.

After the first two matches, these was a breeze to get through. Considering how much of a grind the tournament as been, this was one of the better hard camera shows. Sabre and Taichi are once again featured in the match of the night. They’ve had the best and worst matches on the tour. You always get a mixed bag with Tachi but Sabre’s been helping these turn out to be more good than bad. Definitely watch that match.

Robert McCauley hasn't missed an NJPW show since the launch of NJPW World. Always be on the look out for his reviews where he shares results and gives his honest opinions on the goings-on of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.